Vehicle parking installations



Dec. 21, 1965 E. BUZZANCA VEHICLE PARKING INSTALLATIONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 15, 1963 Dec. 21, 1965 E. BUZZANCA 3,224,605

VEHICLE PARKING INSTALLATIONS Filed April 15, 1963 5 heets-Sheet 5 l l 94/ I 1 l m ll n J2 in l H4 United States Patent 3,224,605 VEHICLE PARKING INSTALLATIONS Estanislao Buzzanca, 526 Corcega St., Barcelona, Spain Filed Apr. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 273,103 Claims priority, application Spain, Apr. 19, 1962, 276,649 3 Claims. (Cl. 214-161) This invention relates to improvements in installations for the parking of vehicles.

Present-day installations are all based on a series of superimposed stations on different floor levels, and a lift or elevator at each end of these series of stations raises and lowers the vehicles to the different floor levels. These series of stations comprise aligned platforms on each of which a vehicle may be placed, with these platforms being movable on rails or the like while being placed into the lift one at a time for elevation to another floor.

The movement of the vehicle supporting platforms within the parking station presents serious inconveniences which have not yet been solved.

One of these difficulties has been the proper alignment of the lifts or elevators with the different floor levels as the lift may or may not be loaded and due to the varying tensions on the supporting cable causes differences in level between the rails in the lifts and on the floors, respectively, which difference may at times reach more than five centimeters, or be sufficient for preventing the passing of the platform from one railway track to another. This difficulty has been solved by the use of micro-interruptors and similar devices which are very expensive thus increasing the cost of the installations, and whose functioning involves possible improper alignment of the rail tracks although not so great as in other assemblies.

Another inconvenience of these installations is the difficulty for controlling the lateral pushing and stopping of the platforms owing to their inherent weight and that of the supported vehicles. These difficulties are due to the strong initial effort necessary to overcome the relevant inertia at the beginning and ending of the movement.

Another inconvenience of present-day parking stations is the difficulty encountered in locating the vehicle in the correct position within the lift, which at times requires repeated maneuvering with the danger of possible damage to the installation due to the vehicles striking the columns of the installation, in addition to that caused to the vehicle per se.

The object of this invention is to solve these troubles by the provision of relatively inexpensive means for allowing mass production in opposition to the prior solutions, which although technically perfect and having good operational characteristics are so expensive that they can only be considered from an experimental point of view.

The regulation of the alignment between the lift and the different floors has always been considered unavoidable, so that the study has been directed towards the manner of uniting misaligned tracks so that the platforms may move from the floors to the lifts and vice versa without difficulty in spite of level differences. For this purpose, a tilting prolongation or extension situated at the end of each floor has been provided and which is maintained slightly inclined with relation to the floor so that when the lift platform reaches floor level, it is engaged by a complemental prolongation fitted to its end border, and in this manner aligns the tracks in the lift when those of the floor, with this intermedia'te track being more or less inclined and constituting a uniting element allowing the displacement of the vehicle carrier platforms. Moreover, owing to its tilting characteristic, the lift may pass upwards or downwards to other floors.

3,224,605 Patented Dec. 21, 1965 ice To avoid the initial effort and a possible collision, resulting at the end of the lateral displacement of the platforms carrying the vehicles within any floor, a form of movement has been studied whereby the lateral displacement velocity begins at Zero, increases to a maximum at one half of the displacement distance, and then diminishes to zero at the end of the displacement distance so that the total inertia is gradually diminished during the second half of the displacement to zero. In order to realize this relation of movement, an impulse is given to the platform from a gyratory eccentric comprising a connecting rod that gyrates angularly about a fixed center by means of the gyration of a disc to which the connecting rod is fixed, with said disc presenting a peripheral projecting pin to a gyratory plane on said connecting rod over which plane the pin slides, so that according to the position of the pin on the plane, an ascendant or descendant variation is obtained between the linear and angular movements of the displacement. The connecting rod carries at its extremity a device for pushing the platform which is a bar extending transversely to the advance with such bar having at its center an anchorage for the extremity of the connecting rod, guide wheels at both extremities for the interior of the rails to prevent its inclination, and elements for pushing the platforms at the end portions.

For assuring the entrance of the vehicle to the lift into a determined position, a platform of interrupted form or in two halves, is provided, one anterior for receiving the front wheels of the vehicle, and one posterior for receiving the rear wheels, with these two platforms being separated by a central immovable portion, so that a series of divided platforms is provided on each floor, or by two platforms separated by a central immovable portion. This central immovable portion serves to guide the entrance of the anterior wheels of the vehicle, when two parallel guides are presented at one side between which guides one of the front wheels must pass, while in advance of the platform where the rear wheels are housed, and at the entrance thereto, another two guides are provided, one of which is aligned with the exterior of the two front guides, and the other with a certain inclination so that if the vehicle enters in an inclined relationship, the rear wheel strikes against this inclined guide whereupon the floor is displaced laterally, constituted by independent plates disposed within the space determined by these guides whereby upon displacement they center the vehicle up to its adequate entry point on the platform. In continuation, and when the vehicle leaves these displaceable plates, or when they lose contact therewith, operatively disposed position recuperating springs serve to return these laterally displaceable plates to their initial position.

Since some vehicles have their extremities more elongated than others according to the models, it is very difiicult to center such vehicles properly on the platforms, and to prevent the rounded portion of the car protruding too far which would cause the same to strike the columns of the installation upon effecting the lateral movement of the platforms, a limiting stop is provided at the front part of the platforms which operates preferably against the bumper of the vehicle, for closing a signalling circuit indieating that the vehicle has reached the desired position. This limiting stop may consist of a vertical swinging plate which closes the contacts of an electric circuit.

It will be understood that an unlimited number of floors may be employed in this type of installations, but to better understand the construction and operation, the description is directed to two floors only.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows diagrammatically an insta lation of two superposed floors, in which the aligning portions of the railway tracks are shown.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of one end of the floor.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing details of the connection between the floor and the lift by means of the intermediate track.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the platform pushing device and FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of the vehicle aligning device within the floor of the elevator.

With reference to the drawings, it will be seen that in an installation consisting of two floors, namely, one lower 1 and a second upper 2, tracks defined by spaced I-section rails 3 and 4, respectively, are provided for guiding within same the wheels of the platform carriers of the vehicles.

This installation provides similar elevators 5 and 6 at both extremities of the same, and on whose floors tracks of spaced I rails are provided for guiding the platform so that the rails 7 are more or less in alignment with rai s 8 of the floor. The extremities of such rails 8 are bevelled as shown at 9, and a tilting portion 10 is formed with a bevelled extremity 11.

The ends of the rails 8 rest on a cross beam 12 to which ear pieces 13 are welded for holding a fulcrum pin 14 of the portions 10 which is held in a slightly inclined position by a spring 15 located between the lower surface of the portion 10 and the beam .12.

These track portions 10 are provided with a fork piece 16 at the lower surface of their extremities which projects sufficiently to coact with a cross piece 17 extending downwardly from the extremities of the lift track on the underside of the same, thus allowing a continuity of the tracks 8 and 17 through the track portion 10 so that the wheels of the platforms move between the top and bottom flanges of the I rails.

FIGURE 4 shows the lift floor formed as a rectangle defined by parallel longitudinally extending meams 19 and 21 and transversely extending parallel beams 18, 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d and which carry the rails 7 and at the same timefunction for reinforcing the rectangular beam floor.

For pushing the platforms which are divided into two platforms '22 and 23 on which the front end rear wheels respectively rest, the frame is provided with a pushing device comprising a motor disc 24 provided with a pin 25 projecting from its periphery which slides within a runway 26 constituted by a connecting rod 27 and a reinforcement 28 for the same. This connecting rod is driven when the disc gyrates due to its connection with the pin since the rod is pivoted at one end to the beam 20. The connecting rod 27 is provided with a second pin 29 at its other end located within a runway 30 on the central portion of the arm 31 which moves transversely by being guided by wheels not shown housed in the rails. The arm 31 is provided with pushing elements 32 at each end which bear against the borders of the platforms. The beams 18a and 18b and 180 and 18d are located on opposite sides of the platforms 22 and 23, respectively..

FIGURE 5 shows the arrangement for entering and guiding the vehicles into the displaceable platforms, with each plat-form being in the form of two small platforms 22 and 23 for the rear wheels and the front wheels, respectively. Between these platforms fixed spaces 33 and 34 are provided as runway tracks for the entry and exit of the vehicles. The space 34 is defined by two parallel guides 35 and 36 for guiding the entry of the front wheels,

with the guide 36 presenting prolongations over the portions 22 and 23 in the form of a curved surface to facilitate the entry of the guide. The other guide does not present this entry in order to avoid the rubbing of the wheel upon transverse displacement of the platform towards the floor. For guiding the rear wheels, two guides 37 and 38 are located at the entrance of the platform 22, with guide 38 being in alignment with guide 36 and presenting an entrance over the platform 22, while the guide 37 is inclined whereby the rear wheels strike against the same if the car enters in an inclined position, whereby upon advancing and the wheel being unable to avoid this stop, plates 39 and 40 which are connected as at 39a are displaced in the transverse direction according to the arrow, until the moment when the rear wheels arrive between the two guides. The guides 35-38 are fixed to the lift or elevator and the plate 39 moves relative to the guides 37 and 38. After the wheels have left the plates 39 and 40, a spring (not shown) acting thereon causes the same to return in an opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow to their rest position.

The lift contains the platforms 22 and 23 and the spaces 33 and 34 and the plates 39 and 40. The spring 15 is a helical spring having straight end portions and the guide wheels are employed for preventing the arm 31 from being bent and such wheels move along the inside of the tracks for the displacement of the platform.

It will be appreciated that if the car is elevated by elevator 5 to the upper floor 2, the car is moved to the eft (FIG. 1) and is lowered via elevator 5 to the lower floor 1 and back to the elevator 6.

The invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity to the showings in the drawings but changes or modifications maybe made therein so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a vehicle parking installation for at least two vertically spaced floor levels, a movable platform means adapted to carry a vehicle, a lift at each end of the floor levels for raising and lowering a platform means to the desired floor level, complementary tracks on each fioor level and lift, a track section pivotally connected to the end of the tracks on the floor level, spring means coacting with the track section normally maintaining such section in a slightly downwardly inclined position relative to the tracks on the floor level, the leading ends of the tracks on the floor level and the leading end of the track section being bevelled in the direction of the tracks on the lift for allowing pivotal movement of the track section, complemental means on the leading end of the track section and the adjacent end of the tracks on the lift for maintaining such track section in alignment with the tracks on the floor level and lift, means on the lift for pushing the platform means carrying the vehicle from the tracks on the lift to the tracks on the floor level, and means for guiding the vehicle within the lift.

2. In a vehicle parking installation for at least two vertically spaced floor levels, a movable platform means adapted to carry a vehicle, a lift at each end of the floor levels for raising and lowering a platform means to the desired floor level, complementary tracks on each floor level and lift, means at the ends of the tracks on each floor level for operably connecting and aligning the tracks on a floor level with those on a lift, means on the lift for pushing the platform means carrying the vehicle from the tracks on the lift to the tracks on the floor level, said pushing means including a drive wheel, a pin on the periphery of said drive wheel, a connecting rod articulated at one end to the lift, a transverse bar operatively connected at its respective ends to the platform means, means articulating the other end of the connecting rod to said transverse bar, means providing a runway in said rod in which said pin is positioned so that the velocity of movement of the platform means varies from an initial zero to a maximum at a halfway position and descends to zero at the termination of the displacement due to the increase or decrease of the length of said rod at different positions of said pin, and means for guiding the vehic e Within the lift.

3. In a vehicle parking installation for at least two vertically spaced floor levels, a movable platform adapted to carry a vehicle, a lift at each end of the floor levels for raising and lowering a platform to the desired floor level, complementary tracks on each floor level and lift, means at the ends of the tracks on each floor level for operably connecting and aligning the tracks on a floor level with those on a lift, means on the lift for pushing the platform carrying the vehicle from the tracks on the lift to the tracks on the floor level, means for guiding the vehicle Within the lift, said platform including anterior and posterior portions of such dimensions as to hold the front wheels on one portion and the rear Wheels on the other portion, said guiding means including fixed runways located between said portions for the advance of the vehicle wheels to the platform position at the rear of the lift, said runways having two parallel guides for locating the front wheels in proper position on the platform portion, two further guides at the entrance to the lift, one of said latter guides being inclined for guiding the rear wheels so that if the vehicle enters angularly, one of the rear wheels contacts such inclined guide, and a pair of spring loaded transversely displaceable plates, one of which is located below said guides :being displaced until the rear Wheels are located in proper alignment With the front wheels with said plates becoming operative when the vehicle weight entering the lift is removed therefrom.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,605,220 11/1926 Curvillier et al. 2,010,462 8/1935 Nielsen 21438.24 X 2,031,392 2/1936 Taylor. 2,856,082 10/ 1958 Foster et al. 2,924,389 2/1960 Anderson 21438.24 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 450,149 9/ 1927 Germany. 834,129 3/1952 Germany.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Examiner. 

1. IN A VEHICLE PARKING INSTALLATION FOR AT LEAST TWO VERTICALLY SPACED FLOOR LEVELS, A MOVABLE PLATFORM MEANS ADAPTED TO CARRY A VEHICLE, A LIFT AT EACH END OF THE FLOOR LEVELS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING A PLATFORM MEANS TO THE DESIRED FLOOR LEVEL, COMPLEMENTARY TRACKS ON EACH FLOOR LEVEL AND LIFT, A TRACK SECTION PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE END OF THE TRACKS ON THE FLOOR LEVEL, SPRING MEANS COACTING WITH THE TRACK SECTION NORMALLY MAINTAINING SUCH SECTION IN A SLIGHTLY DOWNWARDLY INCLINED POSITION RELATIVE TO THE TRACKS ON THE FLOOR LEVEL, THE LEADING ENDS OF THE TRACKS ON THE FLOOR LEVEL AND THE LEADING END OF THE TRACK SECTION BEING BEVELLED IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACKS ON THE LIFT FOR ALLOWING PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE TRACK SECTION, COMPLEMENTAL MEANS ON THE LEADING END OF THE TRACK SECTION AND THE ADJACENT END OF THE TRACKS ON THE LIFT FOR MAINTAINING SUCH TRACK SECTION IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE TRACKS ON THE FLOOR LEVEL AND LIFT, MEANS ON THE LIFT FOR PUSHING THE PLATFORM MEANS CARRYING THE VEHICLE FROM THE TRACKS ON THE LIFT TO THE TRACKS ON THE FLOOR LEVEL, AND MEANS FOR GUIDING THE VEHICLE WITHIN THE LIFT. 